The Six Item Screener

The Six-Item Screener is a brief and reliable instrument for identifying subjects with cognitive impairment and its diagnostic properties are comparable to the full Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). It can be administered by telephone or face-to-face interview and is easily scored by a simple summation of correct responses.

Dr. Christopher M. Callahan, MD, and his team with the Indiana University Center for Aging Research developed the brief screening tool for cognitive impairment which could serve as a reliable measure of cognitive impairment while managing the logistical demands of screening a large number of patients in a busy healthcare setting. The Six-Item Screener effectively balances accuracy and efficiency.

Designed to be administered in person or by phone by a research assistant or other clinician, the Six-Item Screener is useful for clinicians or researchers hoping to quickly, and accurately, screen patients for cognitive impairment.

When using the Six-Item Screener, please reference our article in the journal of Medical Care

The Six-Item Screener by Dr. Chris Callahan and Indiana University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Dr. Callahan would love to hear about how you are using the Six-Item Screener. If you are interested in translating this tool, please contact him.

Christopher M. Callahan, MD